breweries

Accompanying note: "'Stairway to the Stars,' longest continuous motor stairway ever built. Carried visitors over the reflection pool to the 86-foot high observation deck on the roof of Anheuser-Busch's twenty-five million dollar Budweiser Brewery for a 'parrot's-eye' view of Busch Gardens."

I think I remember going up this as a very little girl!

The enameled panels adorning the side of the escalator were produced by enamel muralist, Paul Hultberg, who was known for his large scale architectural enamel commissions in copper, steel and aluminum. More of his work can be found on this website: www.hultberg.com

In 1909, a reporter noted the “passing of English beers in the Australian Commonwealth”: "It is pleasing to note that Bulimba beer, Gold Top Ale and Bulimba QB Lager are essentially Australian beverages, being produced from Australian materials. The barley is grown on the Darling Downs and is malted at Toowoomba, the hops come from the hop gardens on the banks of the Huon River in Tasmania, and the sugar is of course, a Queensland product. Even the casks, a very substantial item in a brewery of this size, are made from Australian timber. There is therefore, a strong incentive for loyal Australians to patronise Bulimba beer." Gold Top, known for the short-lived but distinctive gold coloured foil around the top of the bottle and later for the gold crown cap, quickly became a hot commodity. The ingredients for the English pale ale, as of 1900, were sugar, English malt and hops from New Zealand, Kent and Bohemia. There are references to similar beers prior to the turn of the century, back when the sugar was a mix of local and Mauritian (the latter being allegedly the superior), suggesting that Gold Top was a new brand rather than a new beer for Bulimba Brewery. The relatively hoppy reduced strength beer was apparently a remedy for any digestive malady you care to name. Source: drunkenspeculation.wordpress.com/2014/08/30/a-brief-histo...

While two Bundaberg drink companies have stood the test of time – Bundaberg Rum and Bundaberg Brewed Drinks – they are just part of the Region’s drink manufacturing history that spans back nearly 150 years. In the late 1800s it was easier to make products locally than transport them from somewhere else. Our thriving sugarcane industry and fertile soil meant everything needed for a top-shelf beverage was at the manufacturers’ fingertips. It was around this time Austrian native, Gustav Steindl, expanded his operations to Bundaberg, after running a brewery with his brother in Maryborough. In 1883 Steindl established City Brewery Bundaberg near Baldwin Swamp, which had easy access to the spring water once available there. After selling the rights to City Brewery, Steindl established Bundaberg Brewery. The brewery was flooded in 1893 and moved to higher ground on the corner of Princess and Tomlinson Street (formerly known as Brewery Street) to new, larger premises. An arched gateway with ‘Bundaberg Brewery’ displayed in wrought iron overhead welcomed guests, and the front fence had a top rail for farmers to hitch their horses. Steindl sold pasteurized lager, bitter ale, light ale and stout in bulk. Bottled brandy and other spirits were sold under the Seppelt label and cordial under the O.T label. His effort and talent were rewarded with four medals at an 1894 Commonwealth brewing competition. After the mid 1900s, drink companies flourished in Bundaberg. A generation of families in the 1940s fell in love with cordial label Salters. John Salter took over the Bundaberg cordial manufacturer ‘Castles’ in 1940 and operated under that name for many years. In 1956, he built a new purpose-built ‘Salters Cordial Works’ on the corner of Walla and Woondooma Streets. Upstairs was an 1800-square-foot syrup room. The factory capped its last bottle in 1982 but the iconic building remains part of the central Bundaberg streetscape. Source: www.crushmagazine.com.au/call-me-old-fashioned/